This week’s reading centred around the interpretation of a young girl’s story, to identify gender roles that are inspired by media as well as the child’s upbringing with respect to her cultural and social economic background. The story was uttered by a 4 or 5 year old African American girl, brought up in a conservative Christian area of the Southern United States.
In the child’s story, she borrowed and repurposed a few popular characters from children’s shows she had watched, as well as an adult horror movie, which she had been exposed to in her living arrangement. The reading looked at the interpretation of the story from a couple of different perspectives, but there appears to be a common thread where the child is confused about the gender roles of women and has blended role based what she viewed on TV, as well as the community surrounding her. These interpretations were subjective, but show underlying tendencies for children to adapt the characters they poach from their exposure to media, to suit their narrative. On one hand she witnesses character’s like Hanna Montana as a strong, empowered female in the media, while her upbringing suggests that girls are to be submissive, feminized and requiring a strong male figure to be safe. This struggle is evident when the protagonist switches to a timid and submissive character when a mother figure enters the story and scolds the protagonist. Afraid to deviate from the defined roles of a female in the context of her own life, the child’s story tells of the powerful effect this has on her own role as a female and the conflicting messages she gets.
Some may think that casually watching television or movies doesn’t have a profound impact on the viewer, especially younger children. This of course is far from the truth, and much can be gleaned by studying the writings or stories they tell to see the effect it has. Media has the ability to change the way people see themselves, what they buy and it isn’t a stretch to think media can change gender roles as well. We need to be especially careful of the messages young people are exposed to and how genders are portrayed. Media can be used to break, or promote stereotypes, and these portrayals are readily absorbed by young impressionable minds. We as consumers need to be responsible, by holding media producers accountable for the way the project gender roles in mass media and the effect they have on the next generation. These messages must also be similarly reflected in the discourse at home to keep things from getting convoluted.
Reference
Allison S. Henward, and Laurie MacGillivray. “Bricoleurs in preschool: girls poaching horror media and gendered discourses.” Gender and Education. Vol 26. Issue #7 (Nov 2014): Pp. 726-742.
In the child’s story, she borrowed and repurposed a few popular characters from children’s shows she had watched, as well as an adult horror movie, which she had been exposed to in her living arrangement. The reading looked at the interpretation of the story from a couple of different perspectives, but there appears to be a common thread where the child is confused about the gender roles of women and has blended role based what she viewed on TV, as well as the community surrounding her. These interpretations were subjective, but show underlying tendencies for children to adapt the characters they poach from their exposure to media, to suit their narrative. On one hand she witnesses character’s like Hanna Montana as a strong, empowered female in the media, while her upbringing suggests that girls are to be submissive, feminized and requiring a strong male figure to be safe. This struggle is evident when the protagonist switches to a timid and submissive character when a mother figure enters the story and scolds the protagonist. Afraid to deviate from the defined roles of a female in the context of her own life, the child’s story tells of the powerful effect this has on her own role as a female and the conflicting messages she gets.
Some may think that casually watching television or movies doesn’t have a profound impact on the viewer, especially younger children. This of course is far from the truth, and much can be gleaned by studying the writings or stories they tell to see the effect it has. Media has the ability to change the way people see themselves, what they buy and it isn’t a stretch to think media can change gender roles as well. We need to be especially careful of the messages young people are exposed to and how genders are portrayed. Media can be used to break, or promote stereotypes, and these portrayals are readily absorbed by young impressionable minds. We as consumers need to be responsible, by holding media producers accountable for the way the project gender roles in mass media and the effect they have on the next generation. These messages must also be similarly reflected in the discourse at home to keep things from getting convoluted.
Reference
Allison S. Henward, and Laurie MacGillivray. “Bricoleurs in preschool: girls poaching horror media and gendered discourses.” Gender and Education. Vol 26. Issue #7 (Nov 2014): Pp. 726-742.